Dec 6, 2009

Bringing Back the Bells

Many years ago, over at Muppet Central, all of the members of the forum would ring bells on December 21st at a certain time to celebrate friendship on Muppet Central, our fandom, and our admiration of Jim Henson. It was inspired by "The Bells of Fraggle Rock" where all of the Fraggles had to ring their bells in sequence with the Great Bell in order to keep the rock from freezing over at winter time.

The beauty of this tradition is that, no matter what your religion or customs, we are all drawn together because we are Muppet fans. We exclude no one from coming to celebrate and showing their Muppet love. For at least one minute all over the world, it gave the fan community a sense of connection... Muppet fans all over ringing bells, as Cantus said, "All together, all at the same time."

We here at The Muppet Mindset have fully jumped behind Convincing John's proposal to bring back the bells. Out of tradition, the bells have always been rang on December 21st at 9:00pm. Sometimes coinciding with watching "The Bells of Fraggle Rock" with the bell ringing, naturally, done the same time as the Fraggles at the end of the special.

Over the past few years, this tradition has even spread to family and friends of Muppet fans. Without fail, they all ring bells at the same time each year. They all have copies of the episode and if they can, watch and ring at the same time.

The original bell ringing was done via chat, but even though we don't have the chat anymore, there is every reason that we can still celebrate the tradition. Muppet fans can ring bells all together, for just one minute, to celebrate Muppety goodness, friendship, and a sense of togetherness. If nothing else, ring the bell for Jim Henson and all of the good things he brought our lives and stood for and influenced you.

Over the past few years, there have (unfortunately) been a lot of arguments in the Muppet community, people leaving, tension between fans, etc., and it's sad, really. There have been a lot of times fans simultaneously waited in anticipation for something, experienced it together, then emotions rise, complaints come in droves and the arguments follow.

Bringing back the Bells would finally bring together the fan community, Muppet Central, Tough Pigs, The Muppet Mindset, The MuppetCast, The Muppet Newsflash, all kinds of fans, and allow us all to experience something together that's fun, easy to do, and probably won't cost you a dime (all you need is something that rings like a bell).

With no chat room, we may not be able to hear each others bells, but that's okay. As a wise composer once put it "don't worry if it's not good enough for anyone else to hear." You'll hear your bell, and you can believe that Jim will hear it too.

So come on, Muppet fans, I know we have all had our differences in the past, but let us put those behind us at that time of holiday joy and love and peace. Let us all ring our bells and let them chime throughout the world so that we can show our sense of pride and togetherness once again.